The Los Angeles Dodgers quickly placed Kiké Hernández on the 60-day injured list after re-signing him to a one-year deal just before Spring Training began.
Hernández underwent left elbow surgery at the start of the offseason, and he will miss the start of the 2026 season.
While being limited to start camp, Hernández went to support Team Puerto Rico in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. However, he returned to the Dodgers after pool play.
Hernández shared his reason for returning was because his rehab has started to pick up, and he didn’t want to take away time from the players on Puerto Rico, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“We’re starting to move along really rapidly in terms of my rehab stuff and I don’t really want to, when it comes to having to hit batting practice and all that, I don’t want to take away from the guys that are playing (in the WBC),” Hernandez said Thursday. “So I haven’t had that conversation yet with Andrew (Friedman). I only asked permission to go to Houston. So if we win again in Houston he might get another text message asking if I can go along for the ride. But I haven’t decided that yet. We’re going to go one day at a time.”
Hernández returned to the Dodgers after playing 92 games last season, during which he hit .203/.255/.366 with eight doubles, 10 home runs, and 35 RBI. He also appeared in all 17 playoff games despite his elbow injury, batting .250 with nine runs, one home run and seven RBI.
The decline in Hernandez’s production likely had some correlation with his elbow injury that bothered him while swinging, but didn’t affect him on defense. He spent time on the IL during the season to treat the injury.
The 34-year-old still had a memorable moment in the World Series when he and Rojas turned a game-winning double play in Game 6 to force a winner-take-all matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Will Kiké Hernández return to the World Baseball Classic?
Puerto Rico is set to play their quarterfinal matchup against Italy on Saturday, March 14 in Houston, Texas. If they advance, Hernández may look to take the trip to Miami, Florida for the semifinal against the winner of Japan and Venezuela on March 16.
If Puerto Rico advances again, the final will be played on March 17 in Miami against the winner of the Dominican Republic vs. the United States.
Hernández would be with the team just to support them, but his presence in the clubhouse may prove to be beneficial for Puerto Rico.
If you love our reporting, choose DodgerBlue.com as a preferred source on Google.
